My Memory of Her
by KonekoKitsune33
Summary: Just a little memory of Inuyasha's I made up. He has so many bad memories, I thought he deserved a good one No flames plz!


**Koneko**: Weeee! My very first Inuyasha story! I love him so much~ I wish I was Kagome... *-*

**Kitsune**: It's never gonna happen. Get over it.

**Koneko**: A girl can dream can't she?!

**Kitsune**: Yes. But not you.

**Koneko**: Meanie!!! P

**Kitsune**: Not really. Just truthful. Like the fact that you don't own Inuyasha or any related characters. Just your OCs.

**Koneko**: Indeed. I only decided to write this little story cause I read a fanfic about Sesshomaru when he was little. It was one author's take on why he didn't like humans very much. It was kinda sad...

**Kitsune**: Don't get emotional on me here...

**Koneko**: I'm not! After I read that, I decided to write something similar for Inuyasha! But I decided since my poor hanyou already had so many bad memories, I could bless him with a good one. I probably could've done better, but I like how it came out anyway~ And I just _had_ to write it before it left me, like so many of my other good ideas...

**Kitsune**: Blah blah blah, whatever. Here's the story, enjoy.

xxXXxx

Inuyasha walked through the familar forest of his old home, back when he was very small and his mother was still alive. He had been able to shake Kagome and the rest of the gang for a few hours so he could walk and think. It was by chance that he made it here without realizing where he was going. He usually avoided this place. Not a lot of happy memories...

As he walked, however, he caught a wiff of a scent he recognized. Someone from one of those few happy memories. He followed his nose until he found a hut. It looked exactly the same as it did back then, bringing those memories back to the surface.

~Flashback~

Inuyasha was young. About the same age as Shippo. He had, against his mother's wishes, wandered into the nearby village to see if he could make friends. He wasn't greeted kindly however. The villagers rallied and chased him out of the village, even through the woods! Until he was hoplessly lost. When he finally tripped and the villagers caught up to him, they started pelting him with rocks and shouted insuts at him. Inuyasha was confused and scared.

'Why?! Why are they doing this?! Have I done something wrong?!' he thought wildly

Just when he thought he was going to die, the barrage stopped. A shadow, slightly darker then the rest around him, stood over him. Looking up, he saw a young girl standing before him, her arms spread wide as she took the hits from the rocks for him. When the villagers noticed her, they stopped.

"Get out of the way, wench!" a man shouted, "That demon needs to die!"

"Why!?" she shot back, "Give me a good reason and I _might_ let you have him!"

Inuyasha's ears drooped when she said that, but when he realized she not only said might, but said it in a way that held the undertone of 'not', he dared to hope.

"He came into our village!" another man shouted

"And did what? Did he pillage your village? Did he slaughter your young? Or your livestock? Did he do any damage at all?!"

"He tried to take my child!" A woman shouted

"Are you sure? Maybe he was just trying to play!"

A tall man stepped forward. He had a noble air about him, so the girl assumed that he was the vilage headman, "It matters not. This child is a demon, therefor he must be eliminated."

She glared at the man, "A man as closed-minded as you should not be allowed to walk this earth." she spat before she turned her back on him and kneeled at Inuyasha's side, "Are you okay, little one?"

Inuyasha was awestruck to the point where he could barely get himself to nod. The girl infront of him was beautiful. Almost as beautiful as his own mother (as her son, he'll always think she's the most beautiful)! Her hair was as long as his, waist-length incase yer wondering, and was a beautifully light shade of brown. And in the dying light of the afternoon, her hair seemed to have gold streaks running through it. Her eyes were only one or two shades darker then her hair, and her skin was pale and smooth. But what held Inuyasha the most, was her smile. Mostly because it was directed at him. No one ever smiled at him outside of his own mother!

Suddenly there moment was cut short, as a rock flew between them, just nicking the bridge of her nose. She whipped her head around to face the villagers and glare at them one last time, before she quickly picked Inuyasha up and ran, shielding him from the rocks. It didn't take long for them to lose the villagers, since this time they didn't give chase. When the girl finally stopped running, they were outside a small hut. She quickly entered the hut and put Inuyasha down by the roaring fire that was in the middle of the floor. After making sure they weren't followed, she sighed in relief and sat down beside him.

"What's your name, little one?" she asked sweetly

Inuyasha was so thrown off by her words, her kindness, that his tempermental responce died in his troat. He could barly manage his own name, "I-Inuyasha..."

"Inuyasha... What a beautiful name you have." she patted his head gently, "My name is Annika. It's nice to meet you." she then stood up, making Inuyasha think she was going to leave him. But she turned back to him, "Now that the introductions are finished, lets start treating your wounds!" she grabbed some bandages and started putting them over Inuyasha's cuts and scrapes, "I know you're a hanyou, so you'll heal quickly, but it'll make me feel better to see them bandaged."

"You're very nice." Inuyasha blurted suddenly. He quickly clapped his hand over his mouth, his cheeks tinting pink.

"Hm? Why thank you!" She smiled, "You're very nice yourself."

That sparked some confidence in Inuyasha, "Why?" he had to ask, even if it ruined everything.

She didn't see where he was going, "Why what?"

"Why are you nice to me? I'm a demon... and a hanyou at that. I'm despised by humans and demons alike..." he directed his sight to the floor, which suddenly seemed very interesting.

"I'm nice to you because I care." she answered without hesitation, "I care about people who are kind, weither they be human, demon, or hanyou. I'm an excellent judge of character, so I can see just by looking at people how kind they are. I can also see how awful they are as well." her voice became soft, sad even. She noticed Inuyasha's ears droop a bit, "But you needn't worry. You're so kind, that all awfulness hasn't a chance at comsumming you." she smiled gently, "I see no hate in your future."

~Flashback Pause~

Presently, Inuyasha scoffed. If only she knew how wrong she was. There was lots of hate in his future, currently. But then again, Inuyasha mused, the future was ever changing. Nothing was set in stone until it became the past. She only ever predicted his future once. Maybe, just maybe, if he kept coming to see her after he met Kikyo, she could've warned him about what was to come.

~Flashback Continue~

After she cleaned and bandaged his wounds, fed him, and helped him wash his hair, which she adored to no end, she let Inuyasha sleep with her in the hut. She convinced him to sleep very close to her, saying that it would be very cold that night. Inuyasha pretented not to care, but inside he was very happy. She was the nicest person he had ever met! He breathed in deeply, memerising her earthy scent. She smelled of dew-grass and holly. He went to sleep with a smile on his face as she held him close.

Inuyasha chuckled when he realized that that was how Kagome slept with Shippo now.

The next morning, Inuyasha woke to Annika making breakfast. She greeted him kindly again and inquired how he slept as she put his food in front of him. When he was full and finished, she spoke again,

"I think I should take you home now."

"Why?" Inuyasha asked quickly. Was she tired of his presence? Was this all just an act?

"Well, you're cuts are healed and you've been gone all night. I'm sure your mother must be worried sick!" she explained

"Oh!" Inuyasha mentally smaked himself. He had been so comfortable last night, he'd forgotten about his mother! He jumped up, "You're right! I need to get back to Mama!"

She stood with him, "Alright then. Let's go!"

They started their journey, but Inuyasha was utterly lost. Annika led him back to the village, but stayed on the outskirts, hiding in the tree line. When Inuyasha recognized where he was, he ran back to his little hut on the path to the village, practically dragging Annika with him. When they got close enough, he started yelling,

"Mama! Mama!"

Almost immediatly, someone came out of the hut. She was a beautiful woman with long black hair and deep brown eyes. She was dressed in fine kimonos, much more expensive then a normal peseant could ever _hope_ to afford. Inuyasha let go of Annika's hand and ran to his mother, hugging her tightly.

"Inuyasha, my son, you are safe." she seemed so proper, but you could hear the love and relief quite heavily in her voice. If she was anyone else, Annika was sure she'd start crying. Just then the woman looked at her, "Who are you?" she asked

Annika opened her mouth to respond, but Inuyasha beat her too it, "Mama! This is Annika. She helped me and saved me from the villagers!"

"Did you now?" Annika could only nod, "Thank you so much for saving my son. I only wish I could repay you somehow..."

"Oh, no." Annika said, holding up her hands, "Seeing Inuyasha home safe is more then enough payment. I see now where he gets his kindness."

She smiled. Before long, Inuyasha filled the silence that formed, "Mama, can I visit Annika again?"

Izayoi smiled at her son, "Of course you may, Inuyasha. I'm sure Annika would be okay with that."

"Of course!" Annika added, "I'd love to see you again. Come by whenever you want!"

~Flashback End~

After that wasn't exactly important. Inuyasha repeatedly went to visit Annika almost every day. They played together all day long. Annika wasn't that old, so she enjoyed the childish games Inuyasha always wanted to play. After his mother died, however, Inuyasha visited less frequently, until he finally stopped going all together. He realized now that he stopped without any prior warning. She probably thought he was dead.

Inuyasha's heart clenched painfully as he thought of the pain he must've put her through. He stepped closer to the hut, fully intending to go inside and reminise some more, but stopped short, his hand raised to open the curtain, when he heard a gasp and something hit the ground with a 'thump'.

He looked over and saw... a girl. She looked to be about Kagome's age, but what really caught his attention was her looks. She looked exactly like Annika! Long, light brown hair that shimmered gold in the sun, eyes that were only a shade or two darker then her hair, and pale skin. But this girl couldn't be Annika. She looked like that over sixty years ago! No human aged that well without demonic help, and Inuyasha couldn't smell any demon on her. So how? Before he could ponder more about this, however, the girl spoke.

"Are you... Could you possibly be him?" she said more to herself then Inuyasha, but he heard her.

"'Him' who?" he asked, frowning slightly at her vaugeness.

"Mama! Mama, come see!" she called out, ignoring his question

Another woman came around to the front of the hut. She also had brown hair, but it was darker then the first one's. And her eyes were hazel. Definitly _not_ Annika.

"What's got you so excited, sweety?" she looked at him when the girl pointed at him and her eyes widened signifigantly. She was braver then her daughter as she started to draw closer to Inuyasha. When she was an arms lenght away, he took an involentary step back.

"Tell me, stranger, what is your name?" she asked

"I-Inuyasha." he answered, his mouth working before his mind could process anything.

He watched as both the women's eyes lighted up and the younger one ran into the hut. Inuyasha took another step back, readying himself to run, but the brunette woman grabbed his haori sleeve.

"Please, don't leave and don't fear us." she said softly, like she was talking to a scared animal, "Just say and meet my mother."

What she said made Inuyasha snap back to himself, "Feh! I'm not scared of you!" he said gruffly, "Let go!" he jerked his sleeve out of her hand, but made no attempts to leave. Only a minute later did the curtain open again and the younger girl walked out backwards.

"You'll love this Grandmother. I swear it." she was saying

"Now now, child. What has your mother told you about swearing?" the old woman replied, her voice filled with amusement. When she finally stepped into Inuyasha's view, he saw an elderly woman, about the same age as Kaede, leaning on a stick for support. Minus the preistess robes. When her brown eyes landed on Inuyasha, they widened. She walked up to him and smiled sweetly at him. She stared at him for a while, seemingly looking through him, before she spoke. "Inuyasha... It's been to long." she said to him

Inuyasha stared at the old woman. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. Dispite her gray hair, she still had some light brown left in it, which glimmered gold in the sunlight. He knew it was her even before he cought her scent of dew-grass and holly. he stuttered a bit, "A-Annika?"

Her smiled widened, "I'm so glad you remember me. Much time has passed, I was afraid you'd forgotten." In a movement that seemed too quick for her, she lifted her stick and whacked Inuyasha on the head, hard.

"Ow! What was that for?!" he shouted, holding his head.

"For not telling me about your leaving. And for waiting so long to come back and tell me about it. The first fifty years I can understand, but after that is rather thoughtless of you." she spoke with a smile the whole time

It took a minute before Inuyasha realized what she ment. He quckly forgot about the pain in his head, "Wha...? How do you...?"

"I told you. I can easily read people." she turned her back to him, "I knew you would meet the preistess Kikyo, but I couldn't see clearly what the outcome would be. The clearest thing I saw was a spider. I wanted to warn you about it, but you never came back. Until today."

Inuyasha stared at her back in complete disbelief. That whole fiasco could've been avoided if had just came back one more time?! He was about to damn his choise and stupidity when she spoke again,

"But I suppose _something_ good had to come from your choise. Right Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha thought about it, and he realized; she was right. If he hadn't made the choises he made, he would've never met Sango, Miroku, Shippo, Kilala, or Kagome. And dispite everything he said, he couldn't imagine life without them now. He drifted into deep thoughts. When he was finally snapped out of his revelry, he found that they had all moved into the hut and sat around the fire, soup warming over the flames. He took the bowl handed to him.

"We must spend this time catching up. I want to hear all about your adventures. And I'm sure my daughter and granddaughter what to hear it too." Annika said happily

All Inuyasha could say to that was, "When did you...?"

"Well, if you came back once and a while you'd know these things." she teased, "My daughter, Anita, was born six years after you left. She's forty five. And her daughter, Anisa, was born sixteen years ago."

Inuyasha had been right. She _was_ the same age as Kagome.

The rest of the night was spent reminising and telling what happened during all the years they were apart. Though Inuyasha didn't have much to say since fifty of those years he spent pinned to a tree. It was dark by the time Inuyasha left, claiming that his friends would be worried if he didn't get back soon. Though he did promise to come back, much sooner then last time, maybe bring his friends with him too.

He was welcomed back to the group with a barrage of 'SIT!'s.


End file.
